October 19, 2015 at 5:56 p.m.
As she neared the end of the race, Megan Wellman glanced up at the clock and gave a slight, satisfied smile.
With a few more steps, she crossed the finish line faster than anyone in Patriot history.
Wellman, who had finished 10 seconds short of the Jay County High School record in winning the sectional a week earlier, left no doubt Saturday as she broke it by more than 15 seconds while finishing fifth in the regional meet at Muncie SportsPlex.
“I did not expect that,” said Wellman. “I really didn’t.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling, because it’s just something I never thought would happen. To have it happen, it’s so just unbelievable.”
It seemed impossible, because at the same race a year ago she couldn’t break the 21-minute mark while fighting back from a grade three hamstring tear. But she had a strong finish to her junior track season and kept seeing improvement throughout the fall.
On Saturday, her time of 19 minutes, 0.2 seconds, was more than enough to snap the JCHS record of 19:15.23 held by Katie Simmons.
“She’s had to come back from a lot, almost a career-ending injury,” said her coach and sister Leah Wellman. “During her rehab, she probably never would have dreamed it was possible to break the record. … And then this year she found herself getting better and better each race …
“As a coach, it’s a great feeling to see her hard work pay off, because I know how much time she’s put into it. … She wants it so bad. And so to see her get it … I’m just ecstatic that it all paid off.”
Megan Wellman’s effort led Jay County’s girls to a sixth-place finish as they fell 24 points short of the top-five finish necessary to move on to the semi-state. The Patriots tallied 147 points, trailing Pendleton Heights (16), Delta (103), Union City (115), Yorktown (116) and Mount Vernon (124).
Kellie Fortkamp joined Wellman in earning an individual semi-state berth — the top 10 runners not on qualifying teams advance — as did former Patriot Emi Minnich, who now runs for Muncie Burris.
Jay County’s three boys who ran Saturday all saw their seasons come to an end.
From the start of the girls race the story was clear — it was Megan Wellman and the Arabians.
Pendleton Heights had won its sectional with a perfect score of 15 points, and hoped to do the same at the regional race. Wellman was the only runner standing in its way.
Alex Buck, who won the title by 1:23 over Faith Baer in 17:24.5, quickly pulled away, and Megan Wellman spent the rest of the race surrounded by the green uniforms of Faith Baer, Emma Hall, Grace Baer and Alli McCarty. She battled Hall and Faith Baer for the first half of the race, and sat fourth at the two-mile mark.
She had slipped to fifth by the home stretch, but thwarted the Arabians’ attempt to sweep the top five as she finished nine seconds ahead of McCarty.
The competition helped spur her to the record.
“It was nice being able to run against Pendleton Heights,” said Megan Wellman, who was all alone in the lead en route to wins in the Delta Invitational and sectional meet at Muncie SportsPlex. “I’ve always known through all the years they were a great, stellar team. And they really pushed me the entire race and that’s how I think I was really able to do it.”
Fortkamp was strong and steady throughout the 5K race, running 19th at the mile mark and 18th at the two-mile. By the finish line, she was 21st overall and fifth among the runners on non-qualifying teams in 20:50.1.
“We can always count on Kellie no matter if she’s 100 percent or if she’s 75 percent,” said Leah Wellman of the senior, who was held out of the lineup on the same course just three weeks earlier because of an injury. “She’s just so determined. … She’s been huge for our team.”
Minnich ran a different kind of race for the Owls, hovering around 30th place most of the way. She made up ground in the final mile, climbing all the way to 22nd as she finished right behind her former teammate in 20:51.3.
Junior Erika Kunkler of JCHS came up about a minute short of a semi-state berth with her time of 22:03.1 for 42nd place. Emma Kessling of Randolph Southern was the final qualifier at 21:05.4.
Though his career came to an end, Patriot senior Travis Barton ran a career-best time for the fourth week in a row. He improved on his sectional time by nearly 14 seconds, crossing the finish line in 17:46.
“That’s great for him to end his career running his best times ever,” said Leah Wellman. “I wish we could have continued because I’m sure he could have dropped even more.”
The other Patriot boys — Michael Denney and Alex LeMaster — in the race finished back-to-back in 59th and 60th with times of 17:59.9 and 18:03.7 respectively.
First-year runner Taylor Homan, a junior, was 55th for the JCHS girls in 22:42.9, and sophomore Gabby Kunkler rounded out the team score as she finished in 23:38.5 for 66th.
Also running for the Patriots were Destiny Berry (82nd – 25:35.4) and Vivienne Kunkler (85th – 27:11.4).
With a few more steps, she crossed the finish line faster than anyone in Patriot history.
Wellman, who had finished 10 seconds short of the Jay County High School record in winning the sectional a week earlier, left no doubt Saturday as she broke it by more than 15 seconds while finishing fifth in the regional meet at Muncie SportsPlex.
“I did not expect that,” said Wellman. “I really didn’t.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling, because it’s just something I never thought would happen. To have it happen, it’s so just unbelievable.”
It seemed impossible, because at the same race a year ago she couldn’t break the 21-minute mark while fighting back from a grade three hamstring tear. But she had a strong finish to her junior track season and kept seeing improvement throughout the fall.
On Saturday, her time of 19 minutes, 0.2 seconds, was more than enough to snap the JCHS record of 19:15.23 held by Katie Simmons.
“She’s had to come back from a lot, almost a career-ending injury,” said her coach and sister Leah Wellman. “During her rehab, she probably never would have dreamed it was possible to break the record. … And then this year she found herself getting better and better each race …
“As a coach, it’s a great feeling to see her hard work pay off, because I know how much time she’s put into it. … She wants it so bad. And so to see her get it … I’m just ecstatic that it all paid off.”
Megan Wellman’s effort led Jay County’s girls to a sixth-place finish as they fell 24 points short of the top-five finish necessary to move on to the semi-state. The Patriots tallied 147 points, trailing Pendleton Heights (16), Delta (103), Union City (115), Yorktown (116) and Mount Vernon (124).
Kellie Fortkamp joined Wellman in earning an individual semi-state berth — the top 10 runners not on qualifying teams advance — as did former Patriot Emi Minnich, who now runs for Muncie Burris.
Jay County’s three boys who ran Saturday all saw their seasons come to an end.
From the start of the girls race the story was clear — it was Megan Wellman and the Arabians.
Pendleton Heights had won its sectional with a perfect score of 15 points, and hoped to do the same at the regional race. Wellman was the only runner standing in its way.
Alex Buck, who won the title by 1:23 over Faith Baer in 17:24.5, quickly pulled away, and Megan Wellman spent the rest of the race surrounded by the green uniforms of Faith Baer, Emma Hall, Grace Baer and Alli McCarty. She battled Hall and Faith Baer for the first half of the race, and sat fourth at the two-mile mark.
She had slipped to fifth by the home stretch, but thwarted the Arabians’ attempt to sweep the top five as she finished nine seconds ahead of McCarty.
The competition helped spur her to the record.
“It was nice being able to run against Pendleton Heights,” said Megan Wellman, who was all alone in the lead en route to wins in the Delta Invitational and sectional meet at Muncie SportsPlex. “I’ve always known through all the years they were a great, stellar team. And they really pushed me the entire race and that’s how I think I was really able to do it.”
Fortkamp was strong and steady throughout the 5K race, running 19th at the mile mark and 18th at the two-mile. By the finish line, she was 21st overall and fifth among the runners on non-qualifying teams in 20:50.1.
“We can always count on Kellie no matter if she’s 100 percent or if she’s 75 percent,” said Leah Wellman of the senior, who was held out of the lineup on the same course just three weeks earlier because of an injury. “She’s just so determined. … She’s been huge for our team.”
Minnich ran a different kind of race for the Owls, hovering around 30th place most of the way. She made up ground in the final mile, climbing all the way to 22nd as she finished right behind her former teammate in 20:51.3.
Junior Erika Kunkler of JCHS came up about a minute short of a semi-state berth with her time of 22:03.1 for 42nd place. Emma Kessling of Randolph Southern was the final qualifier at 21:05.4.
Though his career came to an end, Patriot senior Travis Barton ran a career-best time for the fourth week in a row. He improved on his sectional time by nearly 14 seconds, crossing the finish line in 17:46.
“That’s great for him to end his career running his best times ever,” said Leah Wellman. “I wish we could have continued because I’m sure he could have dropped even more.”
The other Patriot boys — Michael Denney and Alex LeMaster — in the race finished back-to-back in 59th and 60th with times of 17:59.9 and 18:03.7 respectively.
First-year runner Taylor Homan, a junior, was 55th for the JCHS girls in 22:42.9, and sophomore Gabby Kunkler rounded out the team score as she finished in 23:38.5 for 66th.
Also running for the Patriots were Destiny Berry (82nd – 25:35.4) and Vivienne Kunkler (85th – 27:11.4).
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